Coach's Corner: North Carolina's Larry Fedora

North Carolina coach Larry Fedora (right) talks to his players against Pittsburgh during the second quarter on Nov. 16 at Heinz Field. North Carolina won 34-27.(Photo: Charles LeClaire, USA TODAY Sports)

Depth. Depth behind that depth. In an effort to bottle a torrid finish to the 2013 season – six wins in seven games after a 1-5 start, including a bowl win against Cincinnati – Fedora and his tweaked staff have made every position up for grabs, creating a frenzied and competitive spring that should trickle into the team's summer conditioning and fall camp.

At quarterback, UNC has thrown redshirt freshman Mitch Trubisky into the mix with junior Marquise Williams, who started the second half of last season. The Tar Heels are auditioning a slew of potential contributors in the secondary and along the defensive line, while the offensive line looks to rebound behind a young and untested cast.

As he prepares for his third season at UNC, Fedora spoke by phone with USA TODAY Sports national college football writer Paul Myerberg about the Tar Heels' spring, positions of concern, a quarterback competition, carrying over the end of 2013, Drake and teaching world geography to 14-year-olds.

Q: You wrapped up spring drills on April 12. Thoughts on where things stand heading into the summer? The team seems to be very strong in some spots, perhaps a little weaker in others. Are there things you're a little more concerned about?

A: Well, I would say this coming out of spring ball: One of the objectives we wanted was to get more depth at each of our positions. We really stressed opening up each position and guys competing for jobs so we were getting multiple reps with multiple guys. Concerns for me are we're still young on the offensive line. I think out of our 13 or 14 scholarships on the offensive line, I think 10 of them are freshmen or sophomores. (Offensive guard) Landon Turner's the only guy starting on the offensive line right now that would have any kind of experience whatsoever, and he's a junior. We're going to be young up there. And the quicker that we jell on the offensive line the more success we're going to have. So that's a critical, critical area for us going into next season.

Q: When you're looking to build depth up front, how hard is that to do when you have 10 first- or second-year guys? Because it's not about just adding a second tier of linemen, but finding five or six guys who can step right in and take starting snaps. Must make identifying a rotation a little harder.

A: Yeah, it does. It makes it much more difficult. If you had established starters, guys that have been in there in the battle and have good reps, it would make it easier. But it is what it is. We're not going to be able to create more players, so we've got to take these guys and develop them and get as many reps as possible, put them in as many game-like situations in practice as we possibly can, and then we'll turn them loose on game day and see what we've got.

Q: You spoke in the early days of spring about opening every position up to competition. Now, I didn't really think you meant quarterback, but that's clearly the case. Looks like you've got a real, valid competition between Marquise Williams and Mitch Trubisky. That safe to say?

A: You know, I think everybody gets surprised about the quarterback position. We really try to create or treat every position the same on our football team. We talk about all the time that we're always going to compete for our jobs, we're always going to have as much competition at every position as possible. Now, through recruiting and attrition and all those things, some positions have some true competition and some don't. That's an unfortunate thing, because when you have two guys who are competing and they're pushing each other to be the best we're getting better as a football team.

We're very fortunate that we have that at the quarterback position. We've got two guys that we can win with. We've got two guys in Marquise Williams and Mitch Trubisky right now that I feel very good about. If a guy had to go out there and take the first rep right now it would probably be Marquise, but that doesn't mean that this competition is over by any means.

Q: What's funny about quarterbacks is that if you had gone out and said, "Hey, we're going to really open up our right guard job," the response would be, "Yeah, obviously." But when you say quarterback …

A: Yeah, everybody's like, "What? What're you doing?"

Q: You should just play (wide receiver) Quinshad Davis. Doesn't he just throw touchdowns? Is that an option?

A: That's right. He was two-of-two, I think Ryan Switzer threw one. He had a pass for a touchdown. Well, I'd put them there but I don't want to mess up their average.

Q: You started 1-5 last fall, won five of six to end the year and beat Cincinnati to finish 7-6. Have you given any thought as to how a team can carry a strong finish into next year? Are there certain traits, characteristics you can stress to keep this going?

A: I think part of that is we went into the offseason, into winter workouts, and we talked about as a team why we started 1-5, and then what happened from that point. What changed within our team that we could win six of our last seven? When everybody started realizing what actually happened on the team and what it took to start winning those last six of the last seven, it opened up our eyes into what we needed to do going into the offseason and into spring ball and into summer workouts and on through August. So I think our guys are hungry. They tasted the success at the end and nobody wants to do what we did in the first half of the season.

Offensively, they realized that we ran the ball effectively. And if we don't run the ball effectively we're going to struggle. That goes back to your offensive line, that goes back to the quarterback, that goes back to the running backs. When you talk about it, everybody thinks when you talk about the running game you're just talking about the offensive line and the running backs. Well, the quarterback's a big part of that. The wide receivers play a big part of that.

I'm not just talking about perimeter blocking, I'm talking about them making plays when they have the opportunities to make plays. When you do that, the defense has to adjust to make sure you don't beat them in the passing game. That opens things up in the running game. If you can't throw it effectively, they're going to stack up against the run and you're going to have a hard time running the ball. We pride ourselves on being able to do both, but I know you have to be able to run the ball to be effective.

Defensively, it was guys starting to focus in on doing their job within the defense. That's it. We had guys that were trying to do too many things early on in the season. They were trying to help out in areas where they didn't need to help out. Therefore, we were giving up big plays. And the defense is designed so that if all 11 guys just do their job, their responsibility, then the rest of it will take care of itself. Once they started believing that the guy next to him was going to take care of his job and they didn't need to worry about it? We started being a better football team.

Q: After six years together, the one thing that was missing this spring was Blake Anderson, who's now at Arkansas State. Was it weird to go out there and not have Anderson next to you, not have him as a sounding board, someone to plan things together?

A: Anytime you've been with a guy for six years, you know him, he knows you, he knows what you're thinking, I know what he's thinking. It's totally comfortable. So there's a difference, there's no doubt there's a difference right now. But I'm going to tell you, I was really pleased to be able to bring (former Indiana offensive coordinator) Seth Littrell in here. I know what he's done. I've kept an eye on him in the past. As a coach, you've always got to have a plan, and he was definitely high on my list as far as a plan for the future. Seth, he comes from is a system that is similar to what we do, with a same type of philosophy. So I think he's really fit in nicely this spring. There's been a lot of carryover. There's been few problems with the players. He's brought in some things, we've tinkered with some things. So I'm excited about what we have going in the future offensively.

Q: One national topic this month has been the future of the spring game. Some coaches are tilting toward using the final day of the spring for a practice, thinking that's the best way to utilize the day. Other programs still blow out the spring game. From where you stand, do you still find value in a spring game, or do you think UNC might be better served doing some fine-tuning on the practice field before heading into the summer?

A: I think it just depends on each program and where you are. I would love to be able to have more practices, but you have what you have. I would say this, the spring game – and as you look across the country, spring games have gotten to be a big thing. You've got fans now out there, it's a whole game-day atmosphere with activities, it's a lot of fun. I think college football, being the most popular sport there is, I think it's becoming a year-round sport. So spring games are something that people look forward to. I know the players really look forward to it, the fans look forward to it. I think there's a lot to justify to continue having spring games.

Now, I was worried because if we'd have had one ankle sprain or turn on the offensive line we wouldn't have had enough guys to go with two offensive lines. That's a scary situation. Sometimes, just injuries dictate it, you know. I've heard other guys across the country had to do it just because of injuries, they weren't able to have a spring game. I'm thankful that we were. I hope we'll be able to continue to do that.

The other thing that I'll tell you that surprised me this year. I was talking in an exit interview with one of our young defensive tackles, and I said, "You had a great spring. You really came on, you did a good job. But what happened to you in the spring game?" Because he didn't play well in the spring game. He said, "Coach, I looked up at all these fans, and it's game day. Man, my adrenaline ate up all my energy. I was so tired after three plays." So it made me think that's another reason why the spring game is valuable. Because you take these young kids who have redshirted or haven't been in a live situation in front of fans and all that, and it's just one more experience they get to experience so that opening game doesn't just wear them out from a nervous standpoint.

North Carolina coach Larry Fedora smiles after defensive end Kareem Martin (95) dumped Gatorade over him during the final minutes of the fourth quarter of the Belk Bowl on Dec. 28 at Bank of America Stadium. Carolina defeated Cincinnati 39-17.(Photo: Jeremy Brevard, USA TODAY Sports)

Q: So I saw your commercial with the Daily Tar Heel, UNC's student newspaper. My question: You know Drake, obviously, but did you know the song (Drake's "Started from the Bottom") off the top of our head? Had you heard it enough?

A: Yeah, I've heard it enough. First of all, we play music that the players pick out for every practice. So yes, I've heard it numerous times. I actually referred to it when we were honored at the basketball game for the bowl game. I quoted it at that point because that's kind of the way our season was. We started from the bottom, you know? So yeah, I'm fully aware of it. You can't be around 125 guys that are that age and not know what's going on music-wise.

Q: Did you pick the song or did they just come to you and say, "Sit down, we've got the song, let's do it"?

A: They picked it because I used it at the basketball game. So at the game everybody thought it was awesome. So the (Daily Tar Heel), that's what they suggested.

Q: I know you get this all the time, but are you still drinking the same amount of Red Bull as in the past, in 2008 or 2009? Or have you trimmed down a bit?

A: I try to stay away from that question, you know. I'm probably still more than I ought to be, that's for sure.

Q: Do you remember your first coaching job, how you got it, the hours, what you were paid?

A: Yeah, I sure do. I'll tell you a little story about that, how it happened. There was a coach at Garland High School, a young coach who had gotten the job, it's on the east side of Dallas. He had a job opening and I called and got an interview. He told me when the interview was going to be, and unfortunately I was getting married and I told him I was going on a honeymoon. I apologized, but he said when I get back from the honeymoon call and set up a time. Well, when I called back he told me gave the job to somebody. Years later I found out from his wife he hung up the phone and said, "You know, guy's going on a honeymoon! He don't want to coach."

But I got back and found he had already pulled the position. It was probably two or three weeks later he had another spot open up and he called, I went and interviewed and got the job. I was a freshman football coach there at Garland High School. That's kind of where it all started for me.

Q: Were you teaching on the side?

A: Yeah, I was teaching. I was teaching history – world geography.

Q: You remember any of your lessons? I don't know what world geography is. Social studies?

A: Yeah, world geography. You're learning the geography of the world. The whole deal. Yeah, I remember it. The toughest thing for me was that you were teaching freshmen. That's a tough age. They're pretty immature at that time. So I remember going in and talking to the principal and saying, "I don't think I can do this anymore." And he said he'd put me in American History, and that was 11th graders, and they understood they needed that class to graduate. They were a little bit more mature. That was better for me, so I did it for five years, basically.

Then I went on and had the opportunity to be a (graduate assistant), and went from making good money in Texas high school football, basically, to making nothing with a wife who was pregnant at the time. Did that for two years and then was fortunate to get hired on full-time there at Baylor. The funny thing is when I got hired on full-time at Baylor, as a Division I coach, I was making less money than I was as a high school coach in Texas.

Q: That's crazy.

A: Yeah, my wife thought it was too.

Q: Well, if you can handle a room full of high school freshmen you can handle a locker room. It doesn't get any worse than a group of 14-year-old kids.

A: You're exactly right. Now, I can't tell you exactly what I did in that classroom every day. Probably nobody needs to know that.

2. Oregon (2013 record: 11-2). Why No. 2? Because the Ducks could have gone undefeated this season had quarterback Marcus Mariota not been slowed by a knee injury in November. Scott Olmos, USA TODAY Sports

3. Alabama (2013 record: 11-2). Why No. 3? Because a disappointing close to 2013 could be all the motivation a still-deep Alabama roster needs to reclaim the national championship. John Reed, USA TODAY Sports

4. Ohio State (2013 record: 12-2). Why No. 4? Because coach Urban Meyer and his staff have recruited at such a level as to offset a number of losses to graduation and the NFL. Raj Mehta, USA TODAY Sports

No. 5 Auburn (2013 record: 12-2). Why No. 5? Because if Auburn was this good in 2013, next season could be special. Consider this idea: Gus Malzahn's team will be even stronger on offense due to another offseason spent working in his system. Daniel Shirey, USA TODAY Sports

10. UCLA (2013 record: 10-3). Why No. 10? Two-way threat Myles Jack for one. But with QB Brett Hundley returning, the Bruins have a triggerman for an offense and team inches away from a major breakthrough. Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY Sports

21. Central Florida (2013 record: 12-1). Why No. 21? Because it's going to be tough to match this year's success without quarterback Blake Bortles, who opted for a potential spot among the top 10 in April's draft rather than returning for his senior season with the Knights Rob Foldy Rob Foldy-USA TODAY Sports